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...is the author of Berkleemusic’s online course Music Publishing 101
and is a respected music industry veteran, having held senior Creative posts at
Zomba Music, Jive Records, and Sony/ATV Music. Currently, he handles A&R for
Shapiro Bernstein, one of the industry’s most venerable and respected independent
music publishers.

That line did it for me. I'm hooked into reading the Music Business Handbook vol. 2 by Berklee College of Music's online extension, BerkleeMusic.

I don't know for how long they'll host it for free, but if you're interested in either modern trends on entrepeneurship, releasing an album, etc, check it out here: Link

Beall continues to write about the topic saying the primary reason for the relatively stronger performance from Germany in 2010 was the continued dominance of the CD in that market, where physical sales still account for 81% of recorded music purchases. This contrasts with the UK where the move to digital music, whether it’s iTunes purchases or services like Spotify, is much further along. In the UK, physical sales are only 67% of total sales. It does make sense. I definitely see the UK falling into trending categories. Almost everyone I've read on actual music models praise the coming of the digital age and the independent (middle-class) musician - the latter portrayed by some as a sort of hero-role. If the music business was a Zelda game, independent musicians would be Link and Ganon would be the prehistoric business models some seem to still practice.

But then any discouraging word can make the mount of hype over the DIY-era tremble.If you’re in the record or music publishing business and you’re looking for safe ground,
put your money on heritage acts. Old acts singing old songs to old people may not be the
future of the music business, but it sure looks like the here and now. - Although, it's been historically like that: you risk, you might get more. It's definitely not proportional, don't get me wrong. It would be almost as bad not to risk* it as not trying anything at all.

*By risk I don't mean just suddenly taking a leap of faith. I mean learning and studying the trends, asking for advice and creating your own through experience. Among many other things.

Per-consumer expenditures on recordings are down roughly 50 percent since 2007 (to less than $14 per household), and broader event expenditures (sports, music, carnivals, whatever) are also slumping substantially.